President Buhari announced the nomination of 15 others as NDDC board members in a letter forwarded to the 9th Senate led by Ahmad Lawan.

The President, in a letter read aloud in the Senate on Wednesday, asked the Senate to confirm the nominees.

Recall that President Buhari appointed Onochie as the National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to represent Delta State in October 2020.

The nomination was, however, condemned by members of the opposition party and civil society groups.

They claimed she is an All Progressives Congress (APC) member who cannot serve in a sensitive institution like INEC.

Onochie denied being a member of the APC on three different occasions during her screening.

Senators eventually rejected her nomination on the basis of the federal character principle.

Senator Kabiru Gaya, chairman of the screening panel, stated that there is currently a serving INEC commissioner from Delta State, where Onochie is from, and that confirming her appointment would violate a constitutional provision.